News & Analysis as of

Oil & Gas Land Titles

Gray Reed

Texas Court Splits Family Timber Land Over Heir’s Objections

Gray Reed on

“He who comes for the inheritance is often made to pay for the funeral”.* When heirs inherit property together and can’t agree on its use, Texas courts strongly prefer dividing the land physically rather than forcing a sale,...more

Gray Reed

Limitations and Standing to Sue Dry Up Landowners’ Claim to Texas Riverbed

Gray Reed on

State of Texas. V. Reimer et al. studied lawyer-nerdy questions of standing to bring a lawsuit and statutes of limitations as applied to inverse condemnation suits.  Spoiler alert: To the chagrin of the landowners, waiting...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Supreme Court of Texas Washes Out the “Anadarko Washout”

McGinnis Lochridge on

The so called “Anadarko Washout” involves a washout of oil and gas leases on undivided working interests owned by non-operating mineral cotenants. This particular species of lease washouts is based on two recent cases from...more

Gray Reed

What’s the Difference Between a Mineral Reservation and an Exception?

Gray Reed on

The category is “terms that confuse us” for one hundred dollars. Without resorting to your favorite legal dictionary or lawyer, explain the difference between a reservation and an exception in a Texas warranty deed. Stumped?...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Shields Severed Mineral Interests from Tax Foreclosure Judgment

Gray Reed on

In Bush v. Yarborough Oil & Gas, LP a decades-old tax foreclosure judgment did not affect a previously severed mineral interest not owned by the delinquent taxpayer. The mineral owners were neither named nor served in the...more

Gray Reed

Ratifications, Stipulations, and Fixed vs. Floating Royalty Interests

Gray Reed on

After four stops at the lower courts, Kenneth Hahn v. ConocoPhillips has been resolved by the Supreme Court of Texas. The Court opined on the effect of two instruments often used to clarify land titles in Texas: ...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Pennsylvania Superior Court Reaffirms the Dunham Rule

Houston Harbaugh, P.C. on

Let’s assume you inherited a 150 acre farm in Lycoming County that has been owned by your family since 1909. In 2020, you are approached by ABC Drilling about a new oil and gas lease for the farm. You retain counsel and...more

Oliva Gibbs

“After Acquired Title” to Remain a Caged-Bird after Dellit v. Schleder, 2022 MT 196, 518 P.3d 830

Oliva Gibbs on

Introduction - “No one has a vested interest in any rule of common law.” Meech v. Hillhaven W., 776 P.2d 488, 494 (Mont. 1989). Luckily the Montana legislature has codified the common law rule of after-acquired title as a...more

Gray Reed

An Oil and Gas Receivership Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

Gray Reed on

Remnant LLC v. Permico Royalties LLC, et al determined that a 90-year-old claim to ownership of a forfeited corporation was not valid. The players - Hoffman: By most accounts a scoundrel and con man who plied his...more

Gray Reed

How Courts Look at Fixed or Floating Royalty Disputes

Gray Reed on

Montgomery Trustee v. ES3 Minerals and Echo Minerals is another Texas fixed or floating royalty case. Before diving into the details, perhaps it’s best to describe the pattern the courts seem to fall into to resolve these...more

Gray Reed

Agreed Judgment and Division Order Don’t Avoid Double Royalty Payment

Gray Reed on

So, you found all the heirs and you have an agreed judgment stipulating title. Time to pay royslties? Maybe. And you have signed division orders. Surely, you can pay now? Maybe. These were the questions facing the parties in...more

Gray Reed

Texas Correction Deed Statute Revisited … Again

Gray Reed on

You might recall this post on Broadway National Bank, Trustee v. Yates Energy Corporation. We now have Yates Energy Corporation et al v. Broadway National Bank, Trustee, the court of appeals’ ruling after remand. Recall the...more

Gray Reed

Busted Land Transaction Violated the Statute of Frauds

Gray Reed on

In the Estate of Terry Banta presents yet another purported Texas land transaction doomed because of disregard for the Statute of Frauds. Terry Banta and the Herriotts entered into an oral agreement for the Herriotts to...more

Gray Reed

Price is Paid for Failure to Timely Probate a Texas Will

Gray Reed on

 In re: Estate of Robert Scott Masters, Deceased reveals the price to be paid for failing to timely admit a will to probate or as a muniment of title. Know this about Texas probate law - The Estates Code requires...more

Lowndes

Mineral Reservations and Real Property in Florida

Lowndes on

It is not unusual to find mineral reservations in the chain of title to real properties located in Florida. When the State of Florida first conveyed title to state owned lands, it was customary for the state to reserve an...more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Correction Deeds in a Case of First Impression

Gray Reed on

What if you pay good money for a mineral interest and record the deed in the official public records, thereby securing your title? What if your predecessors-in-title decide among themselves they made a material mistake in a...more

Gray Reed

A Different Lesson in Property Stipulations

Gray Reed on

The Texas Supreme Court in Concho Resources, Inc. v. Ellison enforced a boundary stipulation involving an unambiguous deed about which there had been no dispute. You can refer to our earlier post to understand the facts, the...more

Gray Reed

Texas Court Parses Three Retained-Acreage Clauses – Part 2

Gray Reed on

Yesterday we discussed aspects of PPC Acquisition Co., LLC, et al. v. Delaware Basin Res., LLC, et al. Today we consider whether the retained-acreage clauses created a special limitation or a covenant and the relationship...more

Gray Reed

Fixed-or-Floating NPRI Principles Applied to Texas Mineral Reservation

Gray Reed on

In Susan Davis Van Dyke et al. v. The Navigator Group. et al., the Eastland court of appeals applied recent fixed-versus-floating NPRI principles to a double-fraction mineral interest reservation....more

Gray Reed

A Unique Discovery Request in a Texas Water Rights Fight

Gray Reed on

In re Plains Pipeline, L.P., is a suit to adjudicate title to groundwater. Did the trial court err in allowing a party to drill seven test holes on a tank farm? (Spoiler alert: It didn’t.) This decision evaluates an order in...more

Gray Reed

Partition Agreement Outweighs Coal Surface Destruction Test

Gray Reed on

In Wheeler et al v. San Miguel  Electric Cooperative, we learn – again – the difficulty in asserting a position in litigation that is contrary to the actual words in the agreement you are fighting over....more

Hicks Johnson

Oklahoma Oil and Gas Business Braces for Change in Wake of Supreme Court Decision

Hicks Johnson on

On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in McGirt v. Oklahoma, ruling that most of the eastern half of Oklahoma is an Indian reservation. While the decision ostensibly resolves a jurisdictional challenge to a...more

Gray Reed

Family History Guides Interpretation of a Texas Will

Gray Reed on

Generally, if your will leaves your beloved “all … right, title and interest in and to”, said beloved would receive the entirety of your interest, whether a surface estate, mineral estate, or both. But in ConocoPhillips, et...more

Gray Reed

Strip and Gore Doctrine: Infinity War

Gray Reed on

Yet another entry in the Strip and Gore universe (2012’s “Beware of Strips and Gores”, and 2019’s “Strip and Gore 2: The Sequel”) comes to us from Fort Worth Court of Appeals: Richard D. Crawford v. XTO Energy, Inc....more

Gray Reed

Limitations Title Not Precluded by Late Acknowledgment

Gray Reed on

Scribner v. Wineinger, et al. affirms that acquisition of a Texas oil and gas leasehold by limitations is not defeated if the adverse possessor’s acknowledgement of a claimant’s title comes too late....more

41 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide